Advertising
Pretty Polly was the first hosiery company to advertise on TV in 1980. In 1994 Laura Bailey modelled for the company, then in 1998, Eva Herzigová became the face (and legs) of Pretty Polly advertising. Sara Cox also modelled their hosiery. In 1999 the company launched their first bras, known as bbras. In 2003, British singer Rachel Stevens became the face of PP advertising. In September 2014 it was announced that Sophie Ellis-Bextor would be the Face and Legs of Pretty Polly
Pretty Polly
The other main industry in Sutton-in-Ashfield was textiles and in particular hosiery. Pretty Polly wasn’t the name of a favourite pet bird, but a hosiery firm which manufactured products in Sutton from the 1920s until 2005. Though the company was originally named after a winning race horse of that name, the Pretty Polly logo was depicted with a parrot right up until the 1960s!
The name was a good bet for many years. The brand was the second best-selling in the stockings and tights market in the UK by 1957, when it was added to the empire of Thomas Tilling. He also owned the Ballerina Hosiery brand as part of the Walton Hosiery Company. A few years later these companies merged as Pretty Polly Holdings Ltd.
The team at Pretty Polly were great innovators. They introduced a number of things we take for granted today, such as seam-free stockings and tights and ‘hold-ups’, stockings which don’t need the help of suspender belts to stay up. Their ‘holds-ups’ were even shown on the TV program Tomorrow’s World.
The company was bought out by Courtaulds and the factory closed and moved some 14 miles to Belper in 2005. Pretty Polly has been advertised by some well known models, including Eva Herzigova (better known for her Wonder bra ads, also made by Courtaulds), Sara Cox and Rachel Stevens (bras).
